First Day
by justanoutlaw
Summary: The first day of their cursed lives, that would give them memories to last a lifetime.
1. Henry

**Based on my personal headcanons of the first day of Henry and Ella's lives under the curse.**

The first thing Henry remembered was the sound of smacking gum, followed by the most annoyed voice he had ever heard.

"Rent's due in full on the first," his landlord droned. "Not the second, not the third, the first. Cash preferred. Got it?"

"Yeah, I uh, got it."

"No hanging things on the walls with tape or pins, command strips only. I don't want you nicking up my walls or you wont get your deposit back."

"I understand. Anything else?" His voice came out a bit more annoyed than he intended, but he was tired, he hadn't gotten a decent night's rest since the incident. That fleabag motel that reeked of cigarettes didn't exactly help matters.

The landlord arched an eyebrow. "No, you've already signed the forms, so here's the key." He handed it over to him. "Mail gets picked up down here, code is the last four digits of your social. Welcome."

"Thanks."

She peered at the two boxes he had on the dolly he had borrowed from a friend. "That all you got?"

"My house burned down a month ago. It's all that's left."

Henry had been hesitant to pull that card, but it normally shut people up. Once again, it did and the landlord instantly looked uncomfortable and averted her glance. Henry pulled the dolly to the elevator and went up to his new apartment.

His new one bedroom apartment.

God, he hadn't had one of those since college.

The building was nice enough. The insurance money hadn't come in yet and he couldn't exactly afford to go anywhere. Everyone kept telling him that he could rebuild, but he didn't want to. Nothing would ever replace what he had.

He unpacked the little clothes that had survived the fire, along with the ones that his friends had given him out of pity. He hung up the paintings that Lauren had made for him on the walls and found the last bits of Abigail's toys at the bottom. That god awful, ugly doll that he swore would give her nightmares, but she clutched to her chest anyway. Before she had passed, he worried so much that she would be upset over all her toys being destroyed and vowed to replace him, anything to make losing Lauren easier. At least she would be missing her mother's funeral.

And then she never woke up.

Henry shook the thought from his mind and put the doll on one shelf, along with her plush whale on the one beneath it. Her favorite Nancy Drew mystery was mixed in with his own that had made it.

It didn't feel at home and he doubted it ever would. After spending a lifetime in foster care, he had finally found a family, a real family. Lauren was the love of his life and sweet Abby lived up to her name of being her father's joy.

They were gone and he was convinced that he would never be happy again. Blinking the tears out of his eyes, he swung his bag over his shoulder. He needed to go to the bookstore, replace the ones that hadn't made it out. It would take his mind off things, books often did.

He drove into Hyperion Heights, the place with the good pop and pop bookstore. As he turned the corner, he saw a car parked at a green light, not moving. He laid on the horn and the driver seemed to startle, before zooming on past. Henry found a bit of comfort knowing that he wasn't the only one with his head in the clouds that day.


	2. Ella

Jacinda could remember a time when car rides calmed Lucy down, not worked her up. She had to keep reminding herself of those days or she'd never get the nerve to park in front of her step-mother's apartment building. She looked back at Lucy and could see the tears in her eyes. She had a backpack on the seat next to her, with a suitcase on the floor by her feet.

"Are you sure you didn't want to bring more stuff, Luce?" Jacinda asked, softly. "I don't know if that's going to be enough."

"Grandma will get me new stuff."

She knew that Lucy didn't mean it, but it was a sting to the heart none the less. A not so subtle reminder that she would never be able to provide for her daughter in the way that Victoria could. It was what got them in their current situation in the first place.

Jacinda and Sabine had worked for the same restaurant for 8 years, everything was going great. Subtle gentrification, however, meant that the little mom and pop place couldn't survive and they closed, leaving the two women without work. It wasn't so bad in the beginning. They had a little savings and would be able to pay rent until they got a new job.

Then Lucy got too close to the hot stove and burned her arm. It was so bad, that Jacinda had no choice but to take her to the emergency room. Victoria was there in under an hour, already reprimanding her for being so carless. Why hadn't she kept an eye on her? Where was she? How dare Jacinda assume that an 8 year old could play safely by herself for 2 minutes while she ran into the bathroom?

According to Victoria, a social worker showed up while Lucy was being treated. She wanted to start an investigation against Jacinda. Victoria reminded her that she was broke, unemployed and didn't exactly live in the best area of town. She could lose her, forever, or…she could take Victoria up on an offer.

"I'll take her five days a week, you get her two."

"You expect me to give you my daughter for most of the week?"

"It's me or social services, darling. She'll go into the system and you'll never see her again. Which would you prefer?"

Jacinda didn't have a leg to stand on. She went to court and willingly signed her rights away. She was so embarrassed that she didn't tell anyone the truth. Not Sabine and especially not Lucy. As far as they knew, social services found Victoria to be the better fit. It was her or foster care, could anyone argue that the former wasn't better?

She lead her daughter up to the penthouse, where Victoria opened the door. She gave her step-granddaughter a loving smile. "Hello, Lucy. I'm so glad you're going to be living here with me. I've got a room set up just for you."

Lucy didn't smile, she didn't even blink. Instead, she turned to her mother. "I hate you."

Jacinda's heart sunk in her chest. "Luce…"

"You could've fought for me! You could've gone to court! Instead you just listened to some dumb social worker!"

Tears stung her eyes. "I didn't have a choice. You need to be here, it's your best option."

"My best option was with you or Aunt Sabine!"

"You'll understand when you're older…"

"I understand plenty now."

Jacinda looked at Victoria for help, but she was simply smiling smugly. She let out a shaky breath and kissed the top of her head. "I love you, Luce. I'll pick you up from school on Friday."

"Whatever."

Lucy stormed off into the apartment as Jacinda did her best not to cry in front of her step-mother. Tears were weakness and she didn't need to be kicked while she was down.

"It's what's best, darling, you'll see that in time," Victoria purred. "Maybe if you get your act together, we can adjust our deal."

"Just promise me that you'll take good care of her."

"She's my granddaughter, of course I will."

The door was shut in Jacinda's face and she headed down to her car. She was doing good, until she hit a red light. It would be her first night without Lucy. Her first night without her little girl. The tears streamed down her face, wondering how the hell she had let any of it happen. She thought she had finally made it, she had finally proven she could be something.

She would never be anything. Just the orphan that had a kid at 21 and couldn't even support her. Just the girl that was still too weak to stand up to her step-mother.

A horn blared and Jacinda nearly jumped out of her skin, realizing that the light had turned green. She sped off past it, the tears not stopping once the entire way home.


End file.
